Posted
by
samzenpus
on Wednesday August 17, 2011 @05:12PM
from the I-wanna-run-like-you-hoo-hoo dept.

MrSeb writes "Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a running, obstacle-scaling robot. This robot, which is called MABEL (not an acronym), is capable of running at speeds of up to 3.06 meters per second, or 6.8 mph. Physically she is very similar to a human — a heavy torso, and light, springed legs that act as load balancers and shock absorbers — and with a clever feedback system, MABEL even runs like a human, spending 40% of her time three or four inches off the ground."

Our environment is designed for human-sized bipedal forms, so it makes a certain amount of sense to design robots that are generally the same size/shape. That way they can use our buildings, elevators, stairs, appliances, etc.

The first thing that comes to my mind is Adventures in Odyssey, which is a Christian radio broadcast. Whit, a main character and inventor, has a really advanced computer program with a voice interface named Mabel (kind of like Jarvis from Iron Man).